MacBook Pro for Ableton Suite 8

At the moment I work with Ableton Suite 8 with an average use of:
-20 tracks, 5-10 takes per track.
-Around 3-4 effects per track, almost all are running with automation.
-Around 2-3 effects on the master channel.
-Max for Live plugins like Schwarzonator and 4 or 5 Little Brothers.
-Besides using this I would like to be able to play my midi keyboard without lagging up the system, and I would also like to be able to still use my instruments & samples browser fluently.
-Usually I also run Reason 4 in Rewire mode, using around 10-15 loop & sample players in Reason.

Now I am using my 3 year old macbook for this. It's the mid 2007 one with C2D 2.0 ghz, 2.0gb RAM, 160GB, 950 gma. But as you can probably guess already, it really sucks When i have more than 10 or 12 tracks playing, the system starts hoggin a bit which is not very handy when trying to record stuff right.

So when Arrendale arrives I want to buy a MBP. Are there any Ableton users here that can tell me by experience which MBP would be suited for me?
I also do the casual browsing, itunes stuff and some light photoshop and illustrator work, so it's mainly for Ableton.

The Arrandale processors are showing about a 20% gain over the equivalent c2d MBPs right now. So it would be better than your computer now, but so would one from the Apple store. Why do you need a laptop?

Also, what's the difference between the Suite and the regular version of Ableton 8? I'm looking to get Ableton very soon.

Well, with divorced parents and still living at home i spend time equally at both my fathers and my mothers house, and i need/want to use Live more than just half of the week. Second to that my dad is moving abroad for work so when i visit i want to bring my MBP as well. Having an desktop would be too restraining for me.

Actually Ableton Live and Ableton Suite are exactly the same program, but Suite includes many more samples, instruments, effects and some very handy tools. The stuff that comes in Suite is what I use mostly, so I would really recommend getting Suite instead of Live. Then also add some free sample packs ableton gives away, and you're really set

Get a 15" if you need it now. The middle range one will be the best for what you need. But if you can hold out a little while, see if Apple updates the line with Arrandale.

Click to expand...

Oops, forgot to mention I was planning to go 15" in any case. Yeah i think I will wait for Arrendale.. But do you know by experience the 2.66 is enough?
Probably the 0.14 ghz won't matter much, but what about differences in architecture and cache? 256 mb video graphics should be sufficient though.

I'd wait, the new MBP will use the memory bandwidth a lot more more efficiently, his will be great for sample based producers, plus the added CPU increase 20% in some cases will help with any VST/au youa re running.

All in all, if you can wait, wait it will be good update for Ableton Live/Logic users

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